Blood Loss
by KeepTheFaith
Summary: More dancing between Buffy and Spike as they try to deal with the consequences of their mutual attraction, Sequel to Here and Now
1. Default Chapter

Title: Blood Loss

Author: KeepTheFaith (Laura)

Feedback: May be provided here or sent to aeryncrichton@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: Buffy is owned by Joss Whedon and ME, I'm just borrowing them

Spoilers: Set during season 4, after "Fear Itself"

Pairings: Buffy / Spike

Rating: R

Subject: More dancing between Buffy and Spike as they try to deal with the consequences of their mutual attraction, Sequel to Here and Now

Blood Loss

Chapter 1 - It's Wrong

Spike's Crypt

"Spike, this is wrong," Buffy stated. "We both know nothing can come of this."

Spike continued his assault on Buffy's senses. Since she was bloody well talking too much, he started with her wrist. She liked that. Gave him delicious little trembles, she did, while he kissed and nibbled on the inside of her wrist. Her bloody agile little fingers were never idle for long either, as they crept up his chest seemingly of their own volition.

"Mm... hmm," Spike murmured.

Buffy knew that his mumble wasn't any kind of agreement. Not with the way his lips kept creeping up her arm. They were practically at her elbow already. Oh, that felt good. _This is so not of the good_, she thought. "Spike, are you listening to me?"

Spike nodded and mumbled, "course I am pet." Meanwhile, his lips continued bestowing kisses up the length of her arm until he reached her exposed shoulder. "Love these halter tops you wear luv."

Buffy's brain was going into meltdown, just as it had every day for the past week. Every time she came to see Spike, with the intention of stopping this, she found herself in the same position. _Well, not necessarily the same position. But some very interesting positions, never the less. Down Buffy, _she told herself. "This has to stop."

"Did you say something pet?" Spike inquired, raising his head from the nape of her neck where he'd been licking his way up to her earlobes. And what pretty little lobes they were. Very dainty, but full of those tiny little hoops and studs she liked so much. Sometime he'd have to ask her to take them out, so he could finally give her ears the kind of proper attention he'd like to. But right now he was content to simply lavish his attention on those whorls inside her ears, like the convolutes of a conch.

Even though it was the last thing her body really wanted, Buffy gave Spike a shove, dislodging herself from his grasp. "Spike, we need to talk."

"Blood hell, Slayer. What are you playing at?" Spike asked.

Buffy kept backing away, as Spike stepped closer and closer. "Spike this isn't a game." Spike kept on coming. "I mean it. We need to talk."

"Fine. Let's talk," Spike said. He shook a cigarette out of a pack he pulled from his duster pocket, flipped open his silver lighter, and flicked the flame to life. A wisp of smoke from his first exhalation floated toward the ceiling.

  
"Do you mind?" Buffy asked, pointing at the cigarette.

"You're the one who wanted to talk luv," Spike said, cigarette clamped between his lips. "So, talk." He hopped up, so he was sitting on top of one of the tombs. "Have a seat if you like luv," he said, patting the surface beside him.

Buffy leapt up on the tomb opposite Spike. She didn't trust herself sitting next to him. In no time, whatever she'd meant to say would fly out of her head. As soon as he started to touch her, or look at her with those bone-melting, sky-blue eyes of his. He turned her into a little pile of slush with those eyes, all mushy and willing to do anything that he wanted.

"I'm the Slayer," Buffy said.

"Bloody well knew that one already pet," Spike pointed out.

"And you're a vampire."

"Once again, pointing out the obvious luv."

"Do you mind?" Buffy asked, clearly getting more than a bit cheesed off. "I'm trying to make a point here. Slayers and vampires aren't mixy things. So, what are we doing?"

"I'd say you're having the best shagging you're ever likely to get, or I'm sorely mistaken," Spike quipped, with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Is that all this is to you?" Buffy's green eyes shimmered with unshed tears at the notion she'd simply been a good time to the blonde vampire, but nothing more. Maybe all he wanted was an easy lay. And she had been. So maybe he would lose interest once he'd had his fill. It was taking longer than it had with any other man she'd been with, but still... that didn't mean much.

"You know it's not." Spike flicked the ash from the end of his cigarette onto the floor. "Bollocks."

"If it's more than just sex, what is it?"

"Don't rightly know, luv. Never thought much about it," Spike replied.

A quirk of one of Buffy's brows was enough to let him know she wasn't buying his load of bull. She sat silent, waiting for him to crack.

"Fine, I've thought about it... thought about it plenty. Just wasn't sure you had. You haven't been big with the talky talk, since this whole thing started between us."

"Neither have you," Buffy countered.

"Figured it was only a matter of time before you called the whole soddin' mess off."

Buffy shook her head in silent denial. "I don't think I can." When Spike vaulted off his perch and started closer, she held up her hand. "Even though I should."

"What do you want from me Buffy?" Spike asked.

"Spike, you're a soulless vampire. You kill people. You're one of the monsters I was called to destroy. But I don't know if I can anymore... no matter what you do. But there's one thing I do know," Buffy said, jumping off her perch to stand in front of Spike. "I can't be with you while you're killing people. So, I guess... this is goodbye Spike."

Buffy almost made it past Spike before he reached out to grab her arm. "Please... don't make this any harder," she pleaded, her voice catching as she choked back a sob. Buffy looked away and down at the rough cement floor of the crypt, rather than force herself to meet Spike's eyes after making her request.

Spike whirled her around, so she had to look at him. "What if I told you I hadn't killed anyone this past week." Spike's eyes were so clear and innocent in that moment, she could almost believe him.

Then she snorted. "You expect me to believe that? You, the Big Bad, all reformed? I suppose you haven't been feeding either?"

"Didn't say that. Just said I hadn't killed anyone this past week," Spike announced. "It's true," he reaffirmed.

"But how long will that last?" Buffy asked.

Spike shook his head. "Don't rightly know pet. As long as I need it to."

Curiosity overcame Buffy's natural reticence and she asked, "Why haven't you been killing?" The answer to this question suddenly became critical to her ability to breathe... to think... to reason.

"Cause I knew you wouldn't like it if I was. Least, while I was with you," Spike said.

Buffy's pessimism reasserted itself sharply. "And what if we have a fight? Or something happens between us?"

"What if the bleedin' sun should turn into a ball of fiery ash? I don't soddin' know do I? But as long as we're together, I know I can be good. As long as I know there's a fighting chance for us to be together, I can do it - for you."

To be continued...


	2. Mating Dance

Title: Blood Loss

Author: KeepTheFaith (Laura)

Feedback: May be provided here or sent to aeryncrichton@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: Buffy is owned by Joss Whedon and ME, I'm just borrowing them

Spoilers: Set during season 4, after "Fear Itself"

Pairings: Buffy / Spike

Rating: R

Subject: More dancing between Buffy and Spike as they try to deal with the consequences of their attraction, Sequel to Here and Now

****

Blood Loss

****

Chapter 2 - Mating Dance

"How do you know that Spike?" Buffy asked. She stood stiffly, legs spread at shoulder width, and hands fisted on her hips. "How do you know you can be good?"

"Have been so far. Wasn't that tough when I thought about who would be waiting for me in my crypt, or out in the cemetery, waiting to waylay me... about every night this past week." Spike coupled a lascivious grin with a cheeky wink.

"But you could go back to killing anytime," Buffy said.

Spike nodded.

"And you'd still enjoy it." Buffy paced Spike's crypt. 

She looked around at the crypt Spike called home. In the short time since he'd come back to town, he'd managed to scrounge up a TV, portable stereo and even a cooler, although heaven or perhaps hell only knew what he kept in there. The potential grossed her out enough that she was afraid to ask; no way would she look. She wasn't sure whether her hesitation stemmed from what she thought she would or wouldn't find stashed inside.

Her eyes were drawn back to Spike, as though his sapphire gaze possessed an intrinsic magnetic force, attuned to reel her in, like iron filings to a magnet.

"Spike, where can this lead, except into utter disaster?" Buffy asked, shaking her head wearily. She didn't want to end whatever it was that they'd been building between them, but being with Spike while he was still feeding on humans, even if he wasn't actually killing, was still wrong. _Wasn't it? _He insisted he wasn't killing, but wasn't feeding off his victims almost as bad? It could lead right back to the killing.

That would be bad. _Very, very bad. Achy breaky, heartbreaky bad._

A Spike up to his old tricks after he'd ensorcelled her and made her fall would be full of badness. Who was to say that Spike wasn't up to his old tricks -- except Spike. If he was lying, it could lead to much Buffy unhappiness.

"The two of us together is how it bloody well should be Buffy. There's no one who's a better match for me than you." Spike looked at her with sincerity shining out of his ice blue gaze. 

Buffy shook her head. "I can't... I won't let this go any further. It's already gone too far."

"It hasn't gone bloody well far enough, far as I'm concerned," Spike retorted.

Buffy raised a brow at Spike's outburst, but she was at a dead loss figuring out what he meant. Their situation had already gone so far beyond her every reasonable definition of wrong. So taking it further -- deepening it -- could only make it worse, although she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to succeed in convincing him of that.

If she did, no more Spike and Buffy smoochies and no more Spiky fun. Likely it'd be back to the Buffy and Spike fighting, which was not a pretty picture. Because she wasn't sure she could get with the Buffy fighting Spike program again. He might just wind up having his one good day, since she'd be having a series of bad ones.

"How much further can we take this?" Buffy asked, curiosity overcoming her fear of getting in deeper. It was just a question, no need to follow up on the answer, especially if she didn't like it.

"All the way pet. To the end," Spike replied.

Okay, that answer demanded explanation -- being as rife with innuendo as it was with possible misunderstanding.

"What end?" Buffy asked, hardly daring to breathe as she waited for his answer.

"Us, together. For good. Mated for life," Spike answered.

Buffy shook her head. Then she turned her frowny face back upon him. "What? We've had sex... or mated, if that's what you want to call it, already."

"We've shagged, yeah, but we haven't truly mated. Not the way a vampire does when he or she takes a mate. For life..." Spike trailed off, his voice calm and measured. He added, "With a vampire claim."

"Ah, hate to point out the obvious, but human here. Only one vampire in the equation," Buffy said, with a bit of a huff, for emphasis.

"Vampire claims can work between a vampire and a human."

"I hesitate to ask, but how exactly do you know that? I thought that Dru was your one and only love."

"Not from personal experience pet. I read it. In some of your Watcher's books." There was a hint of smugness in his cocky grin, most likely because he found out something from Gile's books, before her Watcher had the chance to look it up himself. "'Sides, Dru and I never had a claim between us." 

"Why were you looking for information about claims between vampires and humans?" Buffy asked.

Spike looked down at his black painted nails, examining them to make sure his manicure was impeccable, diverting his gaze from a pair of piercing emerald eyes. 

Buffy wasn't about to let him put something past her. She wanted to know exactly what he'd found out, what he was planning, and if it would work.

"Perhaps you'd care to explain yourself Spike?" She seethed with menace, waiting for his answer. If this plan of Spike's had been percolating in his brain since she'd seen him last year, when he'd been all moony over his lost love Drucilla... "How long have you been planning this?"

Spike looked up. 

Buffy almost let herself get caught up in his electric blue gaze. Then she gripped his upper arms with full Slayer strength, about ready to hurl him on his ass if she didn't like his answer.

"It came to me a few days ago," Spike said. "So I thought I'd read through a few of the Watcher's journals. To see if I could find reference to any of the early Slayers and their vampire lovers." 

She followed his gaze to the coffee table, where three leather bound volumes lay. Two of the volumes had spines cracked with age, yellowed pages almost falling out of their bindings. The third was much newer.

"What did you find?" Buffy asked, curiosity overcoming her earlier suspicion and anger. Giles didn't talk much about what the Slayers had been like before the Watcher's Council and the Watchers themselves. Maybe there was a reason he didn't. Something none of the Watchers wanted any Slayer to know. Giles had never mentioned a previous Slayer having a vampire lover, even when she was with Angel. The possibility of a Slayer taking a vampire lover had definitely never come up in a single conversation.

"There were at least two Slayers who had vampire lovers. They lived and died long before The Watcher's Council was established," Spike said.

"The first one mentioned, was named Ramona Trace. She was the Slayer in Rome from 305-280 B.C. She apparently had a vampire lover for the last 22 of those years. I found sketchy accounts of her life in the journals of Watcher William Hart. He was a Watcher in the 1480s. He was also something of an amateur archeologist. It seems he found the journals of the Slayer herself in which she describes her lover as one of the enemy, until he claimed her, after which he fought at her side until her death. The last entry noting the date and manner of the Slayer's death appeared to have been made in another hand. Mr. Hart thought her vampire might have made it, since there was no signature. 

"The second Slayer with a vampire lover was Jacaranda. No last name noted in the records. She was an African princess of the Serengeti before she was called. She was the Slayer from 532-553 A.D. Her vampire lover fought at her side for over 18 years. It was his writings that were found by a Watcher by the name of Franklin Carruthers in 1892.

"The third Slayer with a vampire lover is named Buffy Summers. The case is out on how long her rein as the Slayer will last. It started in 1995 when she was called at the age of 15. I'd like to be the vampire at her side for as long as she lives. Fighting to protect her for as long as she'll allow, keeping the forces of darkness at bay. What do you say Buffy?"

To be continued...


	3. The Question of a Claim

Title: Blood Loss

Author: KeepTheFaith (Laura)

Feedback: May be provided here or sent to aeryncrichton@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: Buffy is owned by Joss Whedon and ME, I'm just borrowing them

Spoilers: Set during season 4, after "Fear Itself"

Pairings: Buffy / Spike

Rating: R

Subject: More dancing between Buffy and Spike as they try to deal with the consequences of their attraction, Sequel to Here and Now

****

Blood Loss

Chapter 3 - The Question of a Claim

Willow and Oz walked down the back stairs into Xander's parents' basement. It was dank, dark and cool. A little too cool and not in a good way. Willow burrowed a little deeper within her short sleeve, orange sweater, wishing she had something covering her arms. A pink and lime green neon flower applique sewn in the center, proclaimed her quirky fashion sense. She was wishing she'd worn her burgundy cords, instead of a pair of khakis.

"Xander! Are you down here?"

"I'm over here Will," Xander replied, popping out from his previous position, crouched in front of the dryer. "Oh, hi Oz."

Oz nodded. 

"Were you hiding?" Willow asked.

"What makes you ask... Oh, that. Well, sort of. I was trying to make sure I didn't get called on for more laundry duty. So, what's up?"

"Have you seen Buffy lately?"

"Nope," Xander answered. "I figured she'd been hanging with you at Sunnydale University. In the dorms and all that."

"She hasn't. I haven't seen her all week, except when she shows up for Psychology class."

"Well, that's good right? At least she's going to classes."

Willow shook her head, sending her short, red hair flying. "She's been closed mouthed about patrolling for days. Whenever I offer to help, she cuts me off before I can even finish offering."

"Maybe she's preoccupied with a new big bad." Xander shrugged.

"Why wouldn't she say something though? Maybe there's something I could do to help with research, or a spell, or something."

"Giles suggested that Buffy try to work more independently. Maybe that means she's trying to go it alone, or do as much as she can on her own."

"But we're her buds, and sometimes she needs our help." Willow looked at Oz for support. He nodded.

"Well, why don't we check in with her then?" Xander asked. "You're rooming together in the dorms, she must come home sometime to sleep, right? We'll just wait for her to get in tonight."

"Okay," Willow agreed.

***

"Do you have an answer for me? Will you accept the vampire claim?" Spike asked. His tone and manner serious, no teasing in his demeanor.

"Spike, this may have worked centuries ago, before The Watcher's Council, but what makes you think..." Buffy trailed off at the pained look in Spike's eyes.

"If you don't want this, all you soddin' have to say is no," Spike interjected. "It's quite simple really."

Buffy shook her head wildly. "The one thing this isn't - is simple."

"Nothing ever is, especially where you're concerned."

"Just what is that supposed to mean?" Buffy asked, wrinkling her brow, quite clearly rankled now that she was fielding the blame simply for being a bit on the cautious side about something she didn't fully understand yet.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Buffy resumed her pacing. Round and round rattled the thoughts in her head, like a furious puppy chasing its own tail. "I don't know." 

Being claimed by Spike sounded good. Great even. Maybe a little too good to be true. Nothing was that easy. Not for her and definitely not right on top of the Hellmouth, for her a bringer of all manner of bad things. Everything of the bad; nothing of the good sprang from here, especially where it concerned her chaotic love life. 

The niggling voice of doubt in the back of her mind came back to plague her with questions that had no real answers. _Just what does Spike want? And how could saying yes be wrong, when everything about his offer feels so right? Just like being in his arms. Now stop that! There has got to be something wrong with Spike's suggestion. Think Buffy, think._

"Spike, you don't have a soul," Buffy pointed out.

"Hasn't seemed to worry you much this past week, pet. You never even mentioned it before tonight," Spike countered. "Didn't seem to bother you any when you were letting me in your knickers."

"Eww, gross much Spike?"

Spike waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. "I bet I'd find...." Spike rubbed his thumb suggestively against his forefinger.

Buffy couldn't help it, her gaze was fixated on his all too agile fingers.

"Don't even go there Spike," Buffy warned. _I'm gonna burn just for the thoughts that Spike incites in me, much less for acting on them, _she thought. Then she inquired, "But how can this work, when you don't have a soul?"

"The claim will make you my mate. It'll make it bloody impossible for me to hurt you. Isn't that what you want?" Spike asked.

"After... after, well you know," Buffy faltered, unable to articulate what she meant and blushing furiously. It was more than a little silly really, when she considered all the things they'd done together and she couldn't utter a single string of comprehensible words to describe an act... more like multiple acts really... many of which they'd replayed more than once. "After what we did together, I never thought you'd hurt me. But there's my friends... my family... Giles."

"I'd never hurt them, cause that'd hurt you pet," Spike replied smoothly. "And anything that causes you pain would hurt me too."

Spike stroked the back of his hand against the velvety smooth skin of Buffy's cheek, sending a shiver down her spine. He was near impossible to resist. _Then again, why exactly did she want to?_

Spike pulled Buffy into his arms. Buffy offered no resistance to his vice-like grip, even though she could have found a way to slip free using her Slayer-strength. She just didn't want to.

Buffy turned her face up to Spike, like a flower offering its face to the sun. He was becoming entirely too important to her, but she didn't know how to stop. Didn't want to run and hide from him. And she couldn't stake him. Not after all they'd shared.

***

Spike's lips touched hers like a bee gently gathering pollen from a rich, ripe flower. He nipped at her lips with blunt teeth, while his tongue plundered the inside of her mouth, gathering the rich reward of her hungry moan in return.

He pulled back when Buffy was gasping from lack of breath. He sucked in an unnecessary breath or two of his own in tandem with her ragged breathing.

"Will you accept the claim?" Spike asked. His ice blue eyes swirled with passion and fear. He could feel her desire, hear the way her heart sped to a gallop when he touched her. The one question that kept swimming through his brain, _was it enough? _No matter how many times he tried to convince himself that this thing between them was enough for her, a claim might be one step further than she was willing to go with him. 

To be continued...


	4. Answer to the Claim Question

Title: Blood Loss

Author: KeepTheFaith (Laura)

Feedback: May be provided here or sent to aeryncrichton@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: Buffy is owned by Joss Whedon and ME, I'm just borrowing them

Spoilers: Set during season 4, after "Fear Itself"

Pairings: Buffy / Spike

Rating: R

Subject: More dancing between Buffy and Spike as they try to deal with the consequences of their attraction, Sequel to Here and Now

****

Blood Loss

****

Chapter 4 - Answer to the Claim Question

__

"Will you accept the claim?" Spike asked. 

His question stabbed at something in the vicinity of her heart, wrenching her emotions as she looked into his earnest eyes.

Buffy reached down to cup Spike's cheek with her right hand. He tipped his head fully into her tender embrace, as though drawn by its warmth. "Yes, I will."

Then Buffy was winding her arms around Spike's neck and pulling him close. She desperately needed contact with every precious inch of him she could reach. He bent forward to touch her lips to his in a soft kiss that made them both tremble in reaction.

What they were contemplating was no mere alliance. It was a joining... a blending that would make them both a part of each other. Forever.

Now that Buffy took a second to think, it seemed a little strange that during their conversation about the claim, she'd agreed to it without one word of love passing between them. Then again, sometimes words got in the way of feelings. There'd be time enough for that when they told her mom, Giles, and her friends about the claim. Although the words she expected from most of them would be cautions, warnings and recriminations. _Spike had tried to kill them all before and... what exactly made her think this time would be so different? _Their taunts rang in her ears already, like an early warning system.

Buffy pulled back to look into Spike's eyes, her arms as taut as a trip-wire, while she held him at arms length.

"What is it luv?" Spike asked. 

She looked deep into his eyes, fathomless pools ready to suck her deep into the undertow. "Why are you doing all this?"

Spike rose on his haunches, then sat back down with his legs spread, so he could pull Buffy closer. "I'm doing all this, quite simply 'cause I love you pet."

"Everything... all of this... it just seems so sudden," Buffy replied quickly. "How can you be sure? That it's love?"

Spike raised his hand to Buffy's cheek, cupping it gently in the palm of his hand. "I've felt a connection to you since the first time I saw you. At the Bronze."

"When exactly?" Buffy asked.

"It was a couple of years ago. Right before the first time I watched you kill a vamp in the alley outside the Bronze. I taunted you that you'd find out who I was when I killed you on St. Vigeous, but I couldn't wait that long to see you again. So I crashed Parent - Teacher night at Sunnydale High instead. My heart was already ruling my bloody head where you were concerned. Even if I could have seen it then, there was no way I'd bloody well have admitted it. Not then."

"You were such a pain in my ass. Full of yourself... posturing and taunting. I didn't love you then. How could I?" Buffy asked rhetorically. Then she continued, finding herself on a roll, since they were exploring the past and being open about their feelings. "I've tried to convince myself what we had between us was purely physical, but it's more than that. Otherwise it wouldn't have been all but impossible for me to push you away. I... I...."

Spike placed his index finger across Buffy's lips. "No need for any declarations you're not ready for pet."

Buffy pushed his finger away. "Spike, I have no intention of saying anything I don't mean. I... I care for you Spike. More than I ever thought possible. And I trust you, enough to say yes to the claim."

"I love you so much Buffy. More than you'll ever know. You're a bloody miracle, you are. Summers, you are the self-same sunlight that lights my dark, dank world from the inside out."

"That was almost poetic Spike," Buffy teased.

"Don't know about that luv. It's simply the bloody, awful truth."

***

Giles paced the length of his living room, unsure what exactly had him as nervous as a mother hen, but something was most definitely plaguing him. He just needed to figure out what it was and put it to rest, so he could get a good night's sleep.

Buffy was fine on her own. She needed to learn to find her own answers. When she walked away from the Watcher's Council and their appointed Watcher, he'd realized she no longer needed him as a teacher, or... a father figure.

Giles had learned to heed his finely honed Watcher's intuition over the years, so he pulled out a copy of Reardon's Guide to Demon Behavior and sat down on the couch. He might as well read since sleep was far beyond his ability.

After an hour, he still felt no more tired than when he'd begun. He set aside Reardon's Guide and pulled his own journal out of the bookcase. A hollow thunk drew his gaze to the bookshelf. Several books were canted at a 45 degree angle. That was odd.

Giles drew his index finger across the spines of the previous Watcher's journals, as he read the names on the volumes. There were at least three books missing, including his first journal. Who would want to read that?

Any of Buffy's enemies, of course. 

It contained the type of information that could easily be used against his Slayer. Tried and true strategies she and Giles had employed to take down any number of vampire and demonic threats during the past three years.

Perhaps Buffy might know something about the missing journals.

He looked at the clock. It was almost midnight. Probably too late to call. Yet what if he didn't and information regarding the missing journals was a warning she needed?

Giles rang the number Buffy had given him when she moved into a dorm room with Willow.

"Hello," a sleepy female voice answered.

"Buffy?" Giles asked.

"No, it's Willow. What's up Giles?" she asked.

"Do you know where Buffy is?" he asked.

"Nope. Xander, Oz and I have been waiting for her half the night. I thought she'd be back from patrol by now. You haven't heard from her, have you?"  


"No." Giles paused, then pushed on to reveal the reason for his call. "Some of the Watcher's journals are missing and I was wondering if Buffy knew anything about it."

"I don't know Giles. I'll ask her. Should I have her give you a call?" Willow asked.

"If you wouldn't mind."

"No problem. Goodnight Giles."

"Goodnight Willow." Giles hung up the phone and pondered what to do next. Since he had no idea where Buffy might be patrolling, perhaps pursuing some sleep might be for the best.

He yawned, put his books back in their rightful places and walked up the stairs.

***

"What about the fact that I haven't told you that I love you yet?" Buffy asked. "Will the claim be enough?"

"Enough for me luv," Spike replied, with a half smile. He'd heard it, even if she didn't realize what she'd said. She said she hadn't told him that she loved him - yet. That meant that she expected she would in time and even if she didn't, he could feel her heart. It most definitely was reaching out to him, more and more every bleedin' day.

"So what's the what on this claim thingy?" Buffy asked. "What do I have to do?"

"I'll have to bite you," Spike replied. "It won't take much blood, only enough to make a connection."

"When did you want to do it?"

"Tonight," he suggested. "After we make love. That will make it more pleasant for you."  


"If you've never forged a claim before, how do you know all this?" she asked.

"I've read a bit about it." At Buffy's raised brows, he added, "Alright, I've read more than a bit. I've also talked to a few vampires who'd either been claimed or done the claiming. Only other vampire to vampire claims though. They all said they felt closer to their mates once the claim was in place. Wouldn't... couldn't let anyone or anything harm their mate or it'd tear them up inside. They had no desire to hurt their mate after the claim."

"So what about making love before the claim then?" Buffy asked.

"Just figured that a bite in the afterglow would be more pleasant for you luv," Spike replied. "Rather than just getting to the biting, we'll start with the shagging." Spike inserted another broad eyebrow waggle for emphasis.

After pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, Buffy exposed the long line of her nape to Spike's view.

"You are pure temptation pet. Almost more than a man can stand," he admitted, with a bit of a growl. Spike fought back his game face, which surged to the forefront at the thought, sight, and scent of all that Slayer blood just rushing below the surface of her skin. It made him all tingly knowing that she had agreed to let him make the claim, giddy with joy like a schoolboy on an unanticipated holiday.

"I guess I'm lucky you're a vampire then," Buffy quipped with a smirk. "Aren't I?" She laughed in earnest as she darted just out of his reach, making him chase her. Turning their encounter into a game. 

Just the way he liked it.

Spike vamped out before he gave chase, declaring, "I'm gonna get you good when I catch you pet." He finally caught her around the waist, just before she swung the crypt door open. Course he knew she wasn't really trying to escape. If she had been, he'd 'ave felt her boot in his gut or had her fist on his nose by now.

Buffy playfully swatted Spike in the shoulder, while she inquired in a half-mocking tone, "Oh my, the big bad has me. Whatever will he do with me now?"

"Wouldn't you like to know luv? You'll just have to wait and see what the big bad has in store for you. Might involve a little biting and such," Spike mock-threatened, still in vamp face.

"I thought you were saving the biting for later," Buffy said.

"Maybe, maybe not," he teased. After he pushed the demon down, restoring the smooth planes of his face, he bent toward her neck and proceeded to give her a series of blunt teeth bites from behind her ear all the way across her shoulder. There were so many more pleasurable things for them to explore before the biting commenced.

Buffy lolled boneless in Spike's arms, breathy little murmurs escaping her cotton candy lips.

"Like that pet?" Spike drawled.

A low hum escaped Buffy's lips, as she murmured her agreement.

"How about this then?" Spike proceeded to untie and remove Buffy's halter top, with no struggle, only a half hearted attempt to help, which Spike managed to work around. The garment fell to the floor.

Spike captured one of her pert nubbins in his mouth and teased it with his rolled tongue. Buffy involuntarily arched her back, providing her nonverbal approval of his ministrations. First he licked one stiff nipple after biting it with blunt teeth, then he commenced to lave each mound with his agile tongue and eager lips. He moved from one to the other, to ensure each received equal attention. With his hands at her waist, he continued his erotic assault down her torso.

A pair of eager hands found their way under his tight black t-shirt, skimming over his washboard abs, until it was easier for Spike to simply pull his shirt over his head and toss it away. He wasn't going to argue with her desire to explore him the same way he was exploring her.

Once Spike made it to Buffy's belly button, he licked and nibbled at the sweetly dimpled depression. She giggled and her back arched granting him greater access, yet she made no move to escape his attentions. He felt the warmth of her skin, as his fingertips played over her golden hills and valleys.

"Too cold?" Spike asked.

Buffy shook her head, while shivers called her a liar. 

His lips warmed with every kiss along her silky, smooth flesh. Touching Buffy, interlocking and twining his fingers with hers made him feel almost alive. As though his heart might start beating, while his lungs took in a real breath of air.

"Let me see what I can do to warm you up," Spike offered chivalrously. Although his hands were the same temperature as the rest of his body -- a good deal cooler than human hands -- friction could help warm Buffy's body upon contact. 

The side zip of her black mid-calf skirt rasped down easily, allowing Spike to push it over her hips and send it slithering to the floor. She stepped out of it, her eyes wide and expectant.

In moments Spike gathered Buffy's lithe body in his arms and walked to the far corner of his crypt. He laid her on the black silk sheets of his queen size brass bed. Then he rolled her over onto her stomach. A brisk massage got her blood moving and raised her body temperature in short order. 

This past week they'd only been apart the dozen or so hours between sunrise and sunset. Spike would either find Buffy in one of Sunnydale's too many cemeteries, or she'd make her way to his crypt when she was done patrolling. One night he'd simply watched her dispatch a trio of fledglings, one right after the other. Another night, he'd grown impatient with waiting, so he'd entered the fray himself helping her dust her opponents. He'd wanted her attention focused on him and afterwards it bloody well had been.

Finally, he rolled her onto her back. A teasing glint he immediately recognized shone in her grassy green eyes, as she held out her hand in silent invitation. Spike grinned in anticipation. He knew he was in for it tonight. Although that wouldn't make it much different from any night they'd spent together since they'd begun their crazy affair.

He unzipped his black boots and kicked them off, uncaring where they might land. Then he unbuttoned his black jeans and slid them over his narrow hips, before he crawled over to where Buffy lay in the center of his bed. They'd never actually made it as far as the bed before, usually they were in too much of a hurry to make it much past the door, which one of them would kick closed with a boot clad foot, before they got seriously physical.

Tonight was about more than just thrusting pelvises. It was about forging a link -- a blood bond -- designed to last for all time. The claim would be in force throughout Buffy's lifetime, as well as his own. The more he thought about it, the more Spike marveled that Buffy had agreed to it. She had said yes to his request for a claim.

Buffy's nimble fingers caressed his back, as she pulled him closer. 

Scorching sapphires seared into velvet green depths as Spike surged into Buffy's drenched channel. Her legs locked around his waist, holding him fast, while her nails raked his back. The scent of his own blood almost caused him to vamp out. Pumping in and out of her warm and willing body, a tinge of vanilla overlaid her own powerful pheromones, inviting a tenderness he'd rarely felt capable of since before he'd been turned.

Buffy's eyes remained dilated to near black as she laid supine on the bed, while he caressed her glowing skin. Spike asked, "Are you ready for the claim?" He'd asked the question before, yet he felt obliged to give her one last chance to back out, despite the fact that it'd rip his bloody heart out if she denied him after their tender, yet passionate union.

To be continued...


	5. Blood Letting

Title: Blood Loss

Author: KeepTheFaith (Laura)

Feedback: May be provided here or sent to aeryncrichtonhotmail.com

Disclaimer: Buffy is owned by Joss Whedon and ME, I'm just borrowing them

Spoilers: Set during season 4, after "Fear Itself"

Pairings: Buffy / Spike

Rating: R

Subject: More dancing between Buffy and Spike as they try to deal with the consequences of their attraction, Sequel to Here and Now

****

Blood Loss

****

Chapter 5 - Blood Letting

__

"Are you ready for the claim?" Buffy heard Spike's words as though they drifted to her out of a hazy, contented fog. She nodded her assent and waited expectantly for Spike's next move.

Spike reached down and pulled Buffy to her feet.

It had been too long since she'd felt this happy. She wasn't sure her skin was elastic enough to contain this much emotion. Especially when the feelings boiling up within her were directed towards her mortal enemy.

Spike allowed the demon to take possession of his outward appearance, while he held her hands in a loose grip. His brow furrowed and ridged and his blue eyes turned mustard yellow, with black slits. He could feel the change. Especially the bloodlust, the urging from his demon to rip into the Slayer's throat and drink deep.

Turning Buffy was the last thing on his mind. He liked -- no, he loved -- his hot little Slayer just the way she was: heart beating, blood flowing, and lungs pumping. He had no desire to turn her blood ice cold.

Buffy had agreed to the claim and nothing would ever be able to bloody well tear them apart once it was forged.

Spike remained immobile as Buffy reached out to caress his ridged brow. She gazed into his yellow eyes, no hint of a flinch. He could tell that his demon didn't repulse Buffy, even though she was well aware of what his ridged brow and yellow eyes meant. He was one of the monsters; a demon she was born to fight and kill. Spike didn't know how it had happened, but somehow he'd become Buffy's monster when he gave her his heart. There wasn't a bleedin' thing he wouldn't do for her.

Spike recalled their first kiss in the basement of the frat house.

Despite the influence of a fear spell, all he remembered was the warm silk of her lips teasing his mouth. The tantalizing sweetness of her tongue dueling with his. The way she melted him, when he sipped from the furnace between her lips.

Buffy bared her neck, sweeping a swath of curly blonde hair off to one side. The come hither look in her leaf green eyes beckoned him, the blood rushing beneath her skin called him with its siren's song, surging and throbbing through her veins: ready to pour out in a rush over his tongue and down his throat.

If there was a prior claim in place, say one made by that ponce Angel, it would be even more dangerous for Spike to make Buffy his own. Supplanting another vampire's claim to a mortal was risky at best; worst case, it could turn deadly.

A pair of razor sharp canines pierced velvety soft skin through to her carotid. Buffy's blood was sweeter, more powerfully heady than that of the Chinese Slayer he'd drunk from during the Boxer Rebellion. Buffy's blood imbued him with strength, trust and love.

During the moments before the claim snapped into place, it was all up to him, to keep Buffy safe. He had to be sure he didn't drink too much. It would be too easy to push her past the brink of death if he took too much blood.

Spike could feel the chain that held Buffy to Angel weakening. Until the ever more tenuous connection between them broke, he had to continue drinking her down. Or he'd have to start all over again later, if she let him. Only after her bond with his grandsire snapped could he forge his own claim.

When Buffy's heartbeat began to falter Spike felt the bond between Buffy and Angel weaken and finally shatter. His tie to Buffy tightened, binding and pulling them together like a sturdy hemp rope. Moments later, he pulled his incisors free of the wound in her neck.

He felt for Buffy's pulse -- expelling an unnecessary breath -- it was weak and thready. She could die. Now that she was his, nothing could be allowed to take her from him, especially not his own foolish excess. Once he realized that Angel's prior claim put her at risk he should have stopped, but he was too caught up in Buffy's spell and the magic her agreement wove around them.

Spike almost tripped as he frantically pulled on his jeans, stepped into his boots and pulled a rumpled t-shirt over his head - cursing under his breath over each wasted moment. Then he wrapped Buffy in his black leather duster, scooped her up and raced outside to his DeSoto.

He turned the key, put the car into drive and stepped on the gas to rush her to Sunnydale General. It was the closest hospital to St. Dominic's Cemetery, where he'd turned a deserted crypt--previously belonging to the Richardson family--into his lair.

Squealing tires and exhaust swirled a gray cloud when he came to a sudden halt. The stench of burning rubber didn't register on Spike's preoccupied mind as he plucked Buffy out of the car and ran through the doors of the Emergency entrance. He jogged inside, looking around for someone, anyone to help him.

"A woman with severe blood loss here, mate!" Spike yelled, as he grabbed a passing doctor, spinning him around. "She needs an immediate transfusion."

The dark haired doctor, leaned closer to peer at her ashen complexion. "What happened?"

Spike shook his head, trying to think of a plausible lie. The truth most definitely wouldn't help. "Animal attack. A German Shepherd took her down and was ripping at her throat. She's lost a lot of blood."

"Take her through to exam room 2," the doctor instructed, pointing. "Do you happen to know her blood type?"

Spike looked at the doctor blankly, as he gently laid Buffy on the exam table. Then he shook his head, cursing his lack of foresight. "Her name is Buffy Summers, and her blood type should bloody well be on file here already," he snarled, hoping that his words were true. She must've had at least one transfusion after some close call or another, either with a vampire or some other supernatural beastie, likely from the occasion when Angel forged his prior claim.

__

I should have asked her, Spike thought. _The one question that could have kept her safe and I didn't ask it._

Spike sat on the edge of one of the hard molded plastic chairs in the waiting room, his head propped between cupped hands. All he wanted was to bolt into the room where they were treatin' Buffy, but the doctors would try to keep him out. He knew if he got too demanding, they might bar him from her room. Separation from Buffy was torture. Completely unacceptable.

He could feel the hazy, muddled dreams leaking into his brain from hers. Buffy was unconscious.

Finally, when only action could keep him from forcing his way into her room, he stalked over to the bank of payphones and inserted a quarter and a dime. _Soddin' Americans and their poxy public phone kiosks_, he thought as he dialed the number, _not even private_.

"Hello," he said, answering the voice on the other end. "Mrs. Summers. It's Spike. I'm at Sunnydale General. I brought Buffy here." He could barely hear Joyce's questions, much less form a coherent reply to them, so in the same vein he added, "She's been hurt. Please hurry."

Spike's clompy motorcycle-boot-clad steps echoed in the empty hallways. He paced from the waiting area and back, as close to the entryway of Buffy's examination room as he dared, until the nurse told him to take a seat in the waiting area. Countless dirty looks wouldn't have put his butt in the contoured plastic chair, except for the fact that Buffy needed him.

When Joyce entered through the Emergency Room doors, Spike jumped up from his seat and crossed over to her.

"Where's Buffy?" Joyce asked, worry lines etched in her forehead.

"She's in exam room 2."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Blood loss," Spike replied. "They won't soddin' well tell me anything, regardless of the fact that I'm the one that brought her in."

Joyce motioned Spike toward the seat he so recently vacated, while she stalked up to the Nurse's desk. "Buffy Summers, my daughter was brought into Emergency tonight by a friend. She came in with severe blood loss. Can you tell me anything about her condition?"

Wilma, the nurse's name according to the badge clipped to the pocket of her hot pink jacket, keyed the name into the computer. "She's being examined in room 2. The doctor will be with you shortly." She pulled a clipboard with medical information clamped to it and put it in Joyce's hands. "In the meantime, if you could provide her insurance information that would help expedite matters."

Joyce sat down in the chair next to Spike, clicking the pen and holding it poised over the paper. As much as she wanted to yell at Wilma for her cavalier attitude -- she didn't give a damn about providing medical information, she just wanted to know how her daughter was alright --she reined in the impulse. Going off on the nurse wouldn't do anything to make Buffy better faster.

"Mrs. Summers, did you find out anything about Buffy's condition?" Spike asked.

"Joyce, my name is Joyce, Spike. And no, I didn't find out anything about Buffy's condition. The nurse said the doctor would talk to us once he's through with Buffy."

After Joyce finished the forms and returned them to the nurse at the desk, she returned to waiting beside Spike. Now that she wasn't occupied, it gave her time to think. What few thoughts she had, revolved around how Buffy might have lost enough blood to wind up in the hospital.

"How did this happen Spike?" Joyce asked.

Spike looked over at Buffy's mum and realized that he'd almost stolen the life of her only child. She wouldn't be well pleased at his actions. He wasn't. He'd come close to killin' Buffy and the thought was driving him wild with guilt and remorse. It was his job to protect her now that she was his, but he was the one she'd needed protecting from.

"Joyce, I... I'm the one that did it to her," Spike admitted, hanging his head in abject misery. "I didn't mean to. It was a bloody accident. But it's my fault, what happened to Buffy."

Despite the terror she saw in the Spike's shimmering aquamarine gaze, Joyce hardened her heart. _How could he do that to her baby?_ It was hard enough dealing with the fact that her daughter was the Slayer with a lifespan that in all likelihood wouldn't exceed hers. Dealing with another vampire -- boyfriend? She wasn't exactly sure what Spike was to Buffy, but she didn't think they were enemies anymore. So how could he almost drain her life's blood?

"I know you probably don't ever want to speak to me again, much less look at me Joyce. But I can bleedin' well promise you I'll never do anything to endanger Buffy like this again."

Joyce opened her mouth to speak, but was unable to articulate her feelings beyond a mumbled, "Damn, this is such a mess," before she walked off. She needed a cup of coffee, something to occupy her hands, so she wouldn't try to strangle Spike. At least he was honest about what had happened. She had to give him credit for that, didn't she? It seemed so. She shook her head wearily pondering just how her little girl managed to keep getting involved with the very monsters she was sworn to destroy. Giles would help her get a grip on this situation.

She opened her purse and pulled out her address book. Giles' number had to be in there. Ah, there it was: Rupert Giles. Fishing a quarter and a dime from her wallet, she slipped them through the slot and dialed the number, waiting while it rang once, twice and then a third time. Before the fourth ring, she heard a voice on the other end.

__

"Hello," Giles said.

"Mr. Giles, this is Joyce Summers. Buffy is at Sunnydale General," Joyce explained.

__

"Is Buffy alright?"

"I believe she will be," Joyce replied. "She was brought in with acute blood loss. I'd really appreciate it if you could come right away."

__

"I'll be there in 10 minutes."

Joyce hung up the phone in a daze, wondering what to do next. Go back to the Emergency Room, she supposed. She realized she hadn't told Giles where to find her when she called, then she shook her head realizing he'd probably check Emergency first. It wasn't like Buffy hadn't been brought there before.

An involuntary sob escaped her throat, before Joyce pulled herself together. She walked back to the Emergency Room waiting area. Spike was up and pacing when she arrived. Joyce wasn't sure why she felt compelled to offer him comfort, yet she motioned for him to come sit beside her.

"Joyce, I'm sorry." Spike almost added that he'd take it back if he could, when he realized those words would be a bleedin' lie. He'd do anything to have her, she was his now --forever and always. "I love Buffy. I'd do anything for 'er, or you."

Joyce reached out to touch Spike's cheek, unaccountably moved by the tears he didn't seem to realize were rolling down them in a steady stream. She brushed her thumb across his tearstained cheek, then gathered him into a hug. "It's alright Spike. I was upset about Buffy. I called Giles. He'll be here soon."

Spike wasn't sure whether to feel happy or worried at her news. Rupes didn't exactly like him. Not that he could bloody well blame him. He had tried to kill the Slayer... several times in fact. It was a bloody surprise that Joyce could stand the sight of him, especially considering what he'd almost done to her girl this very night.

Joyce jumped up from her chair when Giles arrived, though Spike made no effort to rise. Giles could make of that what he bleedin' well wanted and he probably would.

"What is he," Giles paused and pointed to Spike, "doing here?"

"Vampire hearing here mate," Spike said. "Or did you forget?"

"What are you doing here Spike?" Giles asked, directing his question toward Spike.

"I think that's a question better answered by your Slayer, Rupert," Spike dodged. He had no desire to get into a fight with the man and get himself kicked out of the hospital. Not when he didn't know how Buffy was. He needed to be here. To protect her, care for her, hold her hand; whatever she bloody well needed him to do. He'd do anything she needed.

Spike turned from the Slayer's mum and her Watcher. It was all he could do, to hold himself together when Joyce's worry was beatin' down his defenses. With Buffy's bloody father figure standing at the ready to defend her bleedin' honor, Spike was torn asunder.

He needed to concentrate.

Something he couldn't do around them. Not here. Not now. Time to take a walk. Have a smoke and calm down. Buffy wouldn't want him to have a meltdown. She'd need him near when she woke.

"I'll be back in a bit," he called over his shoulder to Joyce, before taking his leave.

Giles looked at Joyce, cocked an eyebrow and waited.

"What happened?" Giles asked, irritated yet unaccountably relieved to find Spike in such a cozy, domestic scene with Joyce. It was like the two of them were family. _Good lord, what am I thinking?_ he pondered.

Joyce looked up at Giles' worried visage and sighed. "Like Spike said, I think it'll be better if Buffy tells you."

"I don't see how waiting could be better," Giles argued.

Joyce shook her head. "From me, it'd be secondhand. I'm sure that Buffy will be better able to tell you her story than I could ever hope to."

"It has something to do with Spike, doesn't it?" Giles surmised. It wasn't hard to guess, based upon Spike's presence, his dodgy answers and Joyce's deliberate evasiveness.

"Yes, it does. But I don't pretend to understand it, so either Buffy or Spike will have to explain it to you. Since Spike won't, it seems you'll have to wait for her to tell you."

Joyce took a seat on one of the hard plastic Emergency Room chairs. Giles sank down beside her, resignation or perhaps implacable British reserve, plastered on his face.

To be continued...


	6. Interlude

Blood Loss

Part 5A - Interlude

Angel bolted from the office, brushing off the questions and concern he felt rolling off of Doyle and Cordelia in waves. Their questions failed to register on his overloaded brain.

It was early evening, yet full dark had settled over L.A. a couple of hours ago.

Angel had felt a snap - when the thread holding him to Buffy broke. It lashed at him like a flail. He hadn't realized how he'd come to rely on the background buzz of her presence in his mind to keep him sane. Knowing she was safe allowed him to stay away, so she could have a normal life.

Or at least the chance of one.

Only two things could break the bond of a claim: a vampire draining Buffy dry or one drinking deeper than he had last year to supercede his claim. He prayed it wasn't the first, and yet...

If it was the second, he'd caught a hint of platinum blond hair, chiseled cheek bones and cloves, before his claim had torn free from Buffy, like the tail end of a swiftly unraveling thread.

Spike.

He'd killed two Slayers already. What if he'd added a third to his list of kills?

Angel vaulted over the door, sliding into the front seat of his convertible. He was driving down the road before his unruly thoughts caught up with him. It would only take a couple of hours for him to drive to Sunnydale. A commuter flight might take longer than that before it got off the ground.

Of course, it might already be too late.

If it was - Spike was dead. Stupid thought. Spike was already dead, since he was a vampire. If he'd harmed one hair on Buffy's head, Spike would be a pile of dust.

To be continued....


	7. I Hate Hospitals

Title: Blood Loss

Author: KeepTheFaith (Laura)

Feedback: May be provided here or sent to aeryncrichtonhotmail.com

Disclaimer: Buffy is owned by Joss Whedon and ME, I'm just borrowing them

Spoilers: Set during season 4, after "Fear Itself"

Pairings: Buffy / Spike

Rating: R

Subject: More dancing between Buffy and Spike as they try to deal with the consequences of their attraction, Sequel to Here and Now

****

Blood Loss

****

Chapter 6 - I Hate Hospitals

Spike's foot tapped rhythmically as he perched on the edge of his chair, ready to jump up at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, Giles was rubbing his handkerchief over the lenses of his glasses yet again. Joyce wondered what could be taking so long. Pretty soon she'd develop a nervous tick or two of her own.

"Why haven't Willow or Xander arrived?" Giles asked.

"I didn't think to call them. I should do that now." Joyce moved as if to get up, but Giles put his hand on her shoulder, stilling her.

"I'll make the calls. You stay here. The doctor will be looking for you when there's news about Buffy's condition." He turned and walked down the hallway.

Joyce sat and waited, unsure whether the delay meant good or bad news. Spike's agitation wasn't helping her state of mind either. His cocky assurance would have been a relief right about now, putting her mind at rest about Buffy's recovery.

Ten minutes later, Spike shook his head ruefully and prepared for the deluge. If Giles' disapproving looks and Joyce's pained expressions pierced him through the heart, he was sure ill-will would roll off Buffy's friends in waves. They had no reason to trust or even like him, so they'd probably team up to try to force him out of their friend's life.

It wouldn't be that easy.

Twenty minutes later, after greetings were exchanged between Willow and Xander and the waiting Joyce and Giles, it began.

"What's he doing here?" Xander asked. "Does someone have a stake?"

"Shut it Harris," Spike replied sharply. "I brought Buffy in here tonight."

"Right," Xander said, drawing the word out. "You, the big, bad Master Vampire brought Buffy to the hospital to save her life. What game are you playing Spike?"

Joyce stepped between the two men, "Stop it, the both of you," she said, looking from one to the other. "Xander, Spike did bring Buffy into the hospital tonight."

"So, what are you really after here, Spike?" Xander snarked.

The doctor who had taken Buffy to a cubicle for treatment hours ago, came walking toward them. Spike's attention centered on him; he ignored Harris as though the whelp had disappeared. Everyone else could have bled into the walls for all he cared.

"Mrs. Summers?" the doctor asked. At Joyce's nod, he held out his hand and introduced himself as Dr. Feldman.

"How is my daughter?" Joyce asked.

"We've got her stabilized. She's had a transfusion of several pints of blood and plasma. She was dangerously weakened by the blood loss, but she should be fine in a couple of days."

"May I see her?" Joyce asked.

"Yes, she's in room 206. Keep your visit short though, she needs her rest."

Joyce allowed the doctor to lead her down the corridor, into room 206 where Buffy lay tucked in amongst white sheets, slightly elevated in a hospital bed. Her daughter looked so pale and wan. Almost like death, except for a pale flush of color in the center of each cheek. Buffy's eyes were closed when she came in, yet they sprang open as soon as Joyce sat down in the chair beside her bed and grasped her daughter's hand in her own.

"I'm alright mom," Buffy whispered. "Really, I'm going to be fine."

"You look like..." Joyce began, only to turn away from her daughter's knowing eyes.

"I look like death. I know. But I'm alright." Buffy stroked her mother's hand.

Joyce was sure her daughter was trying to reassure her through touch, as though she knew that words alone wouldn't be enough. Not this time.

"Spike said, he said he did this to you."

She yawned. "Mom, can we talk about this tomorrow?"

Joyce nodded. "I suppose." She stood, then turned to add, "Giles, Xander, Willow and Oz are out in the waiting room. And Spike's been waiting to see you since he brought you in."

"Could you send Spike in mom? I need to see him before I go to sleep."

"Alright, but then sleep."

Buffy nodded.

"Mom - wait."

"What is it honey?"

"I'm sorry I was being avoid-o-girl there for a second. I want you to know what's going on in my life. I don't mean to be all secretive Buffy."

"Spike is a pretty big secret to spring on a mom, even when she's the mother of the Slayer," Joyce said, quirking a brow at her daughter.

"I know. It's just...I wasn't sure myself, where things were going with Spike. If they were going anywhere." Buffy's cheeks colored at her words and she ducked her head as if to hide her embarrassment.

Buffy looked up to find her mom smirking at her. "Mom," she whined.

"Alright, no more teasing. I do have a question though."

"Shoot," Buffy said.

"Do you love Spike?"

"I...I think so. I don't want him to leave mom. I don't think I could bear it if he did." Buffy shook her head, but remained silent, as though unable to further articulate her feelings.

"What about Spike's feelings for you? I think I can guess from his visible worry for you in the waiting room, but..."

"He loves me mom," Buffy replied. "So, he was worried?"

"Spike was practically bouncing off the walls." Joyce smiled gently at her daughter, as the vise-grip of fear tightening her on her heart and lungs finally gave way. The doctor's confident prognosis hadn't been enough to reassure, not like the sight and sounds of her only child. "I thought Mr. Giles might wear a hole through his glasses considering the number of times he cleaned them. He called your friends. We've all been waiting as patiently as we could."

"Thanks mom," Buffy said, smiling as her mom bent to give her a hug and kiss on the cheek, before walking toward the door. "Remember to send Spike in."

"If you let me forget, I'm sure he'd remind me."

Spike and Xander continued their staring match in the waiting area. There was no way Spike was going to let Xander have the last word about Buffy or what might be good for her. "Sod off Harris. I mean to see Buffy and you're not gonna bloody well stop me."

Xander held out his hand like a stop sign, then he poked Spike in the shoulder in time with each word he uttered. "You... almost... killed... Buffy."

Spike's lips thinned, as he kept his anger toward the whelp on a tight leash. Xander was Buffy's friend, which was the sole reason he wasn't pushing the wanker back. "Know what I did. Wasn't what I intended."

"Intended or not, Buffy is in there fighting for her life, because of what you did to her. She doesn't need to wake up and worry about you putting the bite on her again."

Spike shook his head, sending an errant platinum curl spilling over his forehead. He pushed it back absently. "Buffy's mine now. Been claimed. With a bond that'll bloody well last unto death."

"Whose?" Xander asked. "Hers or yours?"

"Either," Spike replied reflexively.

"That can be arranged." Xander puffed out his chest, while he reached behind his back for the stake he'd stopped to grab out of Gile's weapons trunk, after hearing what happened to Buffy and where she was.

"Wouldn't suggest that mate," Spike warned. He motioned toward the door to Buffy's room. "You think she'd thank you for staking me -- in public, no less?"

"After what you did to her? I think she'd rub her hands together and say good riddance to bad rubbish."

Spike growled low in his throat, but his human facade remained in place: ice blue eyes and slightly mussed platinum locks. If a stare could kill, Xander would have dropped on the spot.

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Xander squeaked.

Spike laughed. "If you're not, you bloody well should be."

Xander stood, ready to go mano-a-vampire with Spike.

Willow and Oz walked into the waiting area, right into the middle of Spike and Xander's face-off.

Willow stepped into the fray, afraid her best friend was about to get himself killed, or at least savagely maimed. "Cool down you two." She held out one hand toward Spike, while the other gripped Xander's jewel-toned, striped pullover. "No need to resort to violence."

She locked gazes with Oz, silently asking him to maintain the peace. "I'm going to see if I can talk to Buffy. Keep these two hotheads in check."

Oz nodded and took a seat, looking first at Xander, then Spike. His chilly demeanor had the intended affect. They both followed his lead, taking seats on either side of the room from each other, leaving him as the buffer zone in the middle.

Joyce walked down the hallway, back towards the waiting area. Her focus remained on Buffy and her unusual choice of boyfriends. Unfortunately her daughter's calling seemed to have given her an unnatural inclination toward the undead. It was a bit unnerving to say the least.

"Hello, Mrs. Summers. How's Buffy?" Willow asked.

"What?" Joyce looked up, startled out of her reverie. "Oh Willow, I didn't see you there. Buffy's going to be fine in a few days."

"Can I see her?"

"She asked to see Spike next. Then she needs to get some sleep. I'm sure she'd love to see you tomorrow."

"I understand." Willow looked back toward the waiting area. "Just so you know, the tension between Spike and Xander is thick enough to cut with a knife out there."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for coming over tonight, Willow. Having another woman here has been a relief from the testosterone fest out there," Joyce said, with a tense laugh.

"I'm glad I could help. I'll see if I can get Xander to leave with Oz and I. Then we can all come back tomorrow and visit Buffy."

Joyce smiled and nodded, as she broke off to walk toward Spike.

Willow walked over to Xander, sat down beside him and told him what Mrs. Summers had said. She motioned to Oz and he came over. Between them, they ushered Xander toward the exit before he could see Spike walking down the hallway toward Buffy's room.

Joyce sat down next to Giles. "It's such a relief to know she's going to be alright."

"I'm sure it is. Do you need a ride home?"

"I drove myself," Joyce replied.

"If you're feeling a bit shaky, I'd be happy to drop you," Giles said.

Joyce shook her head, reaching out to place her hand over his. "I don't know what I'd have done without you here tonight. Thank you."

"I don't know what I did, but I was glad to be here Joyce. You know I'm most fond of Buffy." Giles removed his glasses and pulled out his handkerchief to clean his glasses for the twentieth time or more in the past three hours. "I worry about her safety now that she's off at college as well as when she's patrolling, so I wouldn't have been anywhere else." He folded up his handkerchief and his glasses, stowing both securely in the breast pocket of his tweed jacket.

Joyce leaned closer and pulled him into a hug.

Giles reciprocated, at first a bit awkwardly, then with a slight squeeze.

Joyce looked into his glittering eyes, and before she knew it they were out of focus as his lips met hers in a silken kiss that took her breath away.

Spike tapped softly on the door of Buffy's room, then he cracked open the door to peek inside. He entered, letting the door close behind him.

"How are you pet?" Spike asked.

"I'm going to be fine Spike." Buffy gave him a little lop-sided smile.

"I almost killed you pet. Not a good beginning," Spike said, hanging his head, a bit afraid he might meet her accusing stare, despite the fact that her feelings bleeding through the claim didn't seem to match up with his fears.

"Spike, come here, will you?" Buffy asked, patting the side of the bed beside her. "I'd come over there, but your Slayer's feeling a little weak at the moment."

Spike rushed to Buffy's side, lowering himself gently to the spot on the bed she'd indicated. "Is there anything I can get you luv?"

Buffy shook her head. "No, there's nothing I need." She reached out and put her hand on his forearm, which was enough to raise his gaze to meet her eyes. "Nothing that is, but you."

Spike swept Buffy into a hug, unable to pretend any longer that he might be able to back off or remain aloof. As he tucked his head into the curve of her shoulder, she felt his tears soaking through the thin material of the white and blue hospital gown she wore. She stroked the back of his head all the way down his back in a soothing motion designed to relax and reassure.

For some reason Spike's reaction made her more sure than anything that she'd made the right decision.

Her smile was brighter and wider than she could remember having in a long time, maybe ever. She waited until Spike pulled back, so he could finally see that everything was alright and it would continue to be so.

As long as they were together, there wasn't anything they couldn't face.

Buffy tried, but failed to stifle the sudden, deep yawn that overtook her.

"You're tired pet." Spike stood up, looked at the door, then back at Buffy. "I suppose I should leave, so you can get some sleep."

"As much as I'd like for you to stay, I'm sure they won't let you, so it's probably better if you go now."

"Night pet. Remember, I'll be thinking of you." Spike bent down kissed Buffy on the forehead, then turned and walked toward the door. He looked back as his hand touched the handle. "I'll be back at sunset tomorrow Buffy."

To be continued...


	8. Unreasonable Reasoning

Title: Blood Loss

Author: KeepTheFaith (Laura)

Feedback: May be provided here or sent to 

Disclaimer: Buffy is owned by Joss Whedon and ME, I'm just borrowing them

Spoilers: Set during season 4, after "Fear Itself"

Pairings: Buffy / Spike

Rating: R

Subject: More dancing between Buffy and Spike as they try to deal with the consequences of their attraction, Sequel to Here and Now

Blood Loss

Chapter 7 - Unreasonable Reasoning

Angel's long, black coat fanning out behind him, he entered through the Emergency Room of Sunnydale General. He was sure he was in the right place. He could smell Buffy's blood... and Spike. His single imperative was finding Buffy, to make sure she was alright.

Buffy had to be alive.

Buffy alive - it was the single manta he could allow to run through his mind, until he was offered incontrovertible evidence otherwise. He'd left so she could have a normal life. A boyfriend who could walk with her in the daylight. Someone who was living and breathing, not an undead fiend. Spike was of his bloodline -- hell he'd taught Spike a few of his nastier habits, although his grand-childe had picked up quite a few on his own.

Hospital Corridor

Spike turned the corner as he stuck his right hand in his pocket, fishing for his lighter, and found himself pressed half-into the wall. When he looked into the brown eyes of his enraged sire, his desire for a smoke evaporated.

"Bloody hell. Hands off mate." Spike shifted and struggled, but one-handed he was unable to remove Angel's forearm from its position across his windpipe. It was lucky he didn't need to breathe, but somehow he didn't think Angel gave that thought much consideration.

"What did you do to Buffy, Spike?"

Spike pulled his right hand out of his pocket, flipped the lid of his lighter open and flicked the flame to life. A few seconds later, Angel jumped back, slapping at the flames licking up his sleeve.

"You bloody well know what I did," Spike replied with a smirk. "Felt it didn't you?" He remained well beyond arm's reach of Angel, as he watched his sire stew. It was quite pleasant to be on the giving, rather than the receiving end this time.

"If she's dead..."

"Buffy's fine. Or she soon will be."

"I'm supposed to believe you?" Angel asked, brushing past Spike and striding toward the Emergency Room desk.

"Where do you think you're going mate?" Spike asked, as soon as he caught up with Angel, matching his stride to his sire's. He had no intention of letting Angel see Buffy alone. She was his now. Leaving her vulnerable to anyone, especially a former lover, wasn't gonna happen.

Spike didn't fear she might be temped to take Angel back - not much anyway. Through the claim, he could feel her every instant. He knew Buffy was his now.

"I'm not leaving until I see Buffy," Angel said.

"Then by all means you should see her now. The sooner you see her the sooner we'll see your back. Follow me." Spike lengthened his stride, passing the Emergency Room desk and strode down the corridor toward the bank of elevators. Two sets of feet tapped as they waited for the elevator. They stood in silence as it whisked them to the second floor.

Spike led Angel to room 206, putting his palm on the door to hold it shut, as he turned to face Angel. "Buffy's probably sleeping. She's tired and needs sleep to heal."

"Why's that Spike?" Angel asked, with an unmistakable sarcastic snark in his voice.

Spike growled and almost went game-face, but he held his demon in check, while he remained silent.

"Are you going to let me see her?" Angel asked, his clipped tone matching the taut line of his mouth.

Spike opened the door and stepped across the threshold.

"I want to talk to her alone," Angel said.

"That's not gonna happen mate." Spike shook his head, walked over to the side of Buffy's bed, and gently shook her shoulder. "Buffy, wake up luv."

Buffy's green eyes cracked open. "I know it's not day yet, so why are you waking me?"

"You've got another visitor pet."

"Couldn't they have waited until tomorrow to see me?"

"He was a touch insistent pet," Spike replied, stepping aside enough to allow Buffy to see her visitor.

"Angel," Buffy whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"I felt something. I was afraid something had happened to you. I had to make sure you were alright."

"As you can see, I'm fine," Buffy replied, twining her fingers with Spike's, where his hand rested on the bed beside her.

"Are you?" Angel asked. "What has Spike done to you?"

"Nothing I didn't agree to."

"So now you've seen. It's time for you to leave mate. I've got things taken care of here. No need for you to hang about, where you're neither needed nor wanted."

"Buffy, is that what you want?" Angel asked.

"Yes. Please go," Buffy said, looking directly at Angel. Then she looked over at Spike and her gaze softened. "I'm fine. Spike will take care of me."

Spike couldn't hold back a sigh of relief as Angel left. "Poncy bugger," he said, almost under his breath.

Buffy pulled his attention back to her, slipping her palm over his cheek. "You were worried, weren't you?"

"Not a bit," Spike lied.

"Yes, you were," Buffy said. "But you don't need to be. I'm yours from here on out and that's the way I want it to be."

Room 206

The following morning, Giles entered Buffy's room after she finished her breakfast.

Giles smoothed the lapels of his unwrinkled tweed jacket, to have something to do with his hands. He was relieved to see Buffy looking in the pink, so to speak. Only last night he might have found her pale as death.

"Buffy, you're not thinking of letting Spike into your life are you?" Giles asked. "He almost killed you last night."

"But he didn't, did he? Isn't that the point?"

Giles felt Buffy's beseeching verdigris gaze drilling him. He supposed she was hoping to elicit his sympathy, rather than another lecture. She was fighting a lost cause.

Giles pushed his glasses up his nose as he peered down at her. "Buffy, Spike drained you of over four and a half pints of blood. It was a miracle the ER was able to pull you through."

"The only reason they did was because Spike got me here so quickly." Buffy turned her puppy-dog-eyes on Giles again. It wasn't going to be that easy to break through his stiff, British reserve. He was resolved.

"Would you stop that Buffy?" Giles snapped. "Sorry. I know you're still a bit on the weak side... from the blood loss."

"Are you ever going to let me live this down?" Buffy asked.

Giles huffed, then shrugged. "I'm not your Watcher anymore Buffy. You can do what you like. That doesn't necessarily mean you should."

Buffy nodded. "I need to see Spike."

Giles looked down at the gray linoleum floor and then back up into his former charge's flashing emerald eyes. He couldn't love her more if she were his own daughter. It wasn't merely her Slayer strength and responsibility that he loved either. It was everything about her: her unorthodox approach to Slaying, her friends, and the way she charged in where angels would fear to tread. Fighting demons, vampires and averting apocalypses. But this... Spike thing, was too much, too dangerous. Unorthodox as well, of course that was Buffy's strong suit - making a fresh approach work.

"I know he's here. I can feel him," Buffy said, her lower lip trembling just a bit.

"Buffy, what exactly have you... and Spike done?"

"Spike didn't bite me to hurt me Giles. He bit me to claim me."

"What?" Giles yelped. He yanked his glasses off his face and proceeded to clean them with an almost manic intensity. Although his mouth remained open, he didn't utter another intelligible sound. Finally he clamped his mouth closed and simply stared at her.

"I wanted him to do it Giles. It was the only way," Buffy stated, as though her explanation could hope to explain her near brush with death.

"Spike almost killed you Buffy," Giles enunciated each word slowly and clearly, as though it might somehow change the unpleasant statements she'd relayed.

Buffy nodded. "I know. But it wasn't his fault. Spike didn't know that Angel had bitten me before. He couldn't have known there was a previous claim already in place, especially since I didn't either. To claim me, Spike had to break Angel's prior claim before he could forge a link with me."

"A vampire claim!" Giles jumped to his feet, stunned at her revelation. "Why would you attempt such a thing without mentioning it to me?"

"I didn't think you'd approve," Buffy admitted in a soft undertone.

"Bloody well right! I don't approve." He shook his head. "But my approval or disapproval isn't the point. You are a grownup Buffy; making your own decisions. I care deeply for you. I worry about you. If you'd come to me first...."

"What? You'd have talked me out of it?" Buffy asked, brow quirked and a half-smile curving her lips.

Giles huffed a bit, then admitted, "Eventually, you would have followed your own course, but we might have ensured medical attention was readily on hand, ready to be administered at need."

Buffy nodded, then shrugged. "What's done is done. Spike has claimed me and I can feel it, binding him to me.

"Spike showed me some Watcher's journals that had notes about Slayers who had vampire lovers, Giles."

"What?" he asked, shocked and miffed that Spike had managed to find something in his books he had all but forgotten about. "Oh, one of them must have been Carruther's Watchers journal. Jacaranda was the name of the Slayer mentioned, if I recall correctly. I don't recall reading about any other Slayer with a vampire lover."

"But you were aware of at least one?" she asked.

"Yes, the Carruther's journals are full of some fascinating Slayer and vampire facts."

"I'm sure Spike intended to return your books."

"I'm blood well not," Giles replied. "I'll ask Spike to return them... or perhaps you could next time you see him."

Buffy nodded.

Willow knocked lightly, then poked her head into the room to ask, "May I come in?"

"Sure, Will, come on in," Buffy said. "Giles has to leave." There was nothing more she could tell her ex-Watcher and father figure that wouldn't send him even further round the bend. No way could she tell Giles or anyone else she could feel the flip-side of the claim as well, like a steel-forged chain binding her to Spike. Giles might have a seizure, or at least another proper British snit fit.

Willow walked in as Giles bent to give Buffy a kiss on the cheek. Buffy was surprised, yet pleased, by one of his rare displays of open affection. "Just promise me you'll be careful Buffy," he whispered. "If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ring me," he added in a normal tone, before turning and heading out the door.

"How are you?" Willow asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and giving her friend a searching look.

"I'm going to be fine," Buffy replied. "A slight bout with near traumatic blood loss is all. No big."

"Yes big, very big and bad. I had to break up a testosterone fest in the waiting room last night, between Xander and Spike."

Buffy shook her head, but didn't voice the though that leapt to her mind, _Spike would never hurt me._ If she said it, Willow wouldn't believe it anyway. Sometimes she could hardly believe it herself. Plus, the fact that Spike was the one who put her here, tended to stretch the credibility of the idea, despite her feelings to the contrary.

"Willow, something has happened between Spike and I."

"From what I heard, Spike almost killed you - again."

"That's only a small part of what happened Will, and he didn't mean to."

"Are you sure I'm talking to Buffy Summers?"

"Yes. Things change. People change."

"Spike isn't a person. He's a vampire," Willow said.

"Angel is a vampire too."

"Angel has a soul Buffy, which makes a big difference."

"Does it?" Buffy pondered introspectively, speaking more to herself than her friend. "Willow, please talk to Xander for me."

"I don't know what you think I can say."

"Tell him that Spike... well, Spike is part of my life now, so Xander needs to chill and deal with it. Spike isn't going away anytime soon." Buffy thought to herself, _He's not ever going away. What's even weirder is that doesn't give me a big wiggins, it feels good, comfortable, and right._

"That's what I don't get Buffy. When did Spike become such an integral part of your life? You never mentioned you were even seeing him, except in the sense of him being your big, bad enemy before." Willow gestured somewhat wildly, using a Buffy staking motion to illustrate her point. "You and Spike together, makes me uncomfortable too. I can understand why Xander might freak."

"I need you on my side Will."

"I am, Buffy," Willow replied. "I am. Its just..."

"Its giving you the wiggens."

Willow nodded, allowing the ghost of a smile to shine through.

"I know Spike has tried to kill me, more than once, but things have changed," Buffy said.

"How?"

"Spike and I have a bond." Buffy smiled a secret smile, only hinting at the depth of her happiness over that fact.

"A bond? What..." Willow began, her emerald eyes widening as she stared at Buffy.

"Spike claimed me."

"What exactly does that entail?" Willow asked, before her face turned almost as bright red as her hair. She held up her hand, like a stop sign. "No, no... I don't think I want to know the details."

Buffy felt the heat rush into her cheeks, quickly cutting off Willow's train of thought, which unfortunately wasn't that far from the mark. "Nothing like that," she denied. Truthfully that part of it hadn't been part of the claim itself, merely a prelude to it. "Spike bit me and drank some of my blood."

"Didn't you come in here almost drained?"

"No worse than when..." Buffy cut herself off, realizing she was about to tell a lie that Willow would probably see through like plate glass. "A little worse than the time I made Angel bite me, but Spike rushed me to the hospital as soon as he realized. If he wanted me dead, he had the perfect chance to have his one good day with me and he passed."

"That doesn't necessarily mean..." Willow began.

"Maybe, maybe not. I believe that the claim is enough to keep him from harming me, or any of you."

Willow raised her brow, clearly unconvinced.

"The way Spike explained it, the claim makes him incapable of hurting me intentionally. Since hurting any of you would hurt me, there's little chance he'd do anything to any of you now. Even Xander. No matter how exasperating Spike might find him."

"You know how Spike can be."

"It's different now. He's different."

"I suppose he said he loved you or something." Willow dragged a hand through her short red hair, continuing her stare down with her best friends.

"As a matter of fact he did."

"And you believed him?"

Buffy nodded. "Why would he lie?"

"I can think of about a thousand reasons." Willow replied.

"It would have been stupid and one thing Spike isn't - is stupid. He may have tried to play me... us, in the past, but this time..."

"It sounds like Spike has you wrapped around his little finger, instead of the other way around."

"Like I said before, the claim makes it so Spike can't harm me, or by extension any of you." Buffy tried to sit up straighter, but when she started to feel lightheaded, she laid back down on the partially reclining hospital bed.

"How do you know that Spike's telling you the truth about this claim thingy and how it works?" Willow asked.

"I talked to Giles about it. He's heard about vampire claims before. Besides, Spike had Watcher journals that listed Slayer's who had been claimed by vampire lovers."

"So now he's your lover?"

Buffy shrugged.

"The next thing we know, you'll be telling us that you love Spike."

Buffy inhaled sharply, then said carefully, "No... I care for him. I wouldn't have said yes to the claim, if I didn't." _Maybe that was a little lie, but Willow was definitely not ready for the truth about my feelings for Spike. I'm not sure I'm ready, but my friends -- nope, they're definitely not filled with readiness for that kind of revelation._

To be continued...


End file.
